Sad Adjectives: Words to Describe Sadness

Sad is a good word and an overworked one. A story where every character is sad gives the reader no picture of how they feel. Is the person quietly disappointed, or grieving, or lonely, or just in a low mood that will pass by evening? English has plenty of adjectives for these differences. This guide sorts them by shade so that you can match the word to the feeling, whether you are describing yourself in a conversation or a character in a story.

What sadness is

Reference writers describe sadness as an emotional pain linked to feelings of loss, disappointment, helplessness and sorrow. A person who is sad may become quiet, lose energy or pull away from others, and crying is one common sign. The same reference calls it an important emotion, because it motivates people to deal with their situation. So sadness is normal, and the words for it are not all negative in tone. Some, such as melancholy, can even sound gentle.

The word depressed needs a note. In everyday speech it is often used for sadness, but depression is also the name of a medical condition. If you are describing a feeling of low mood in a daily conversation, a softer word such as down or low is safer, and the condition should be named only when it is meant.

Quiet, everyday sadness

For small or passing sadness, these adjectives are the usual choices.

• Sad: the general word, and the right one when you do not need a shade. I was sad to see them go.
• Unhappy: a little more settled, often about a situation. She was unhappy at work.
• Down and low: informal, for a flat mood. He has been feeling a bit down lately.
• Glum: gloomy, downcast or sulky, often with a silent or sour face. Wiktionary gives the sense as gloomy or downcast. The team sat glum after the defeat. The word probably comes from a Middle Low German word meaning gloomy.
• Blue: informal, as in feeling blue.

Glum is useful because it describes the look of sadness. When you see a glum face, you see it before you hear any explanation.

Gloomy, for people and for places

Gloomy has two uses that are worth keeping apart. It can describe a place or light that is dim or dark in a way that feels depressing, as in the cavern was gloomy. It can also describe a mood, someone who is low, downcast or pessimistic, and it extends to things that are not people, such as a forecast: the outlook is gloomy. Because it works for both, it is a good choice for descriptive writing that blends mood and setting. A gloomy afternoon is dark and also sad.

Low spirits after a setback

When sadness follows something going wrong, these words fit.

• Dejected: sad and dispirited, usually after a disappointment. He looked dejected after hearing the bad news. Wiktionary lists despondent and disheartened as close synonyms.
• Disheartened: having lost courage or hope. She was disheartened by the feedback.
• Downcast: looking sad, often with the eyes lowered.
• Crestfallen: sad and humbled after failing to get something you hoped for.

These are about a reason. If the sentence has a because or an after in it, one of these is probably the word.

Deeper sadness and grief

For heavy, serious sadness, these are the usual words.

• Sorrowful: deeply sad, dejected or distressed. It can describe a person, or a thing that causes grief or pity, as in a sorrowful parting. It is formed from sorrow and -ful.
• Mournful: expressing grief, often in sound or tone. A mournful song.
• Heartbroken: crushed by a loss, usually of a person or a love.
• Grief-stricken: overwhelmed by the loss of someone.
• Miserable: very unhappy and uncomfortable, often used for a long, hard stretch of time.

Sorrowful and mournful are a little formal and literary, and they work well in writing about serious events. In casual speech, people more often say heartbroken or really upset.

Lonely sadness

Forlorn is the word for sadness with loneliness in it. Wiktionary lists several senses: abandoned or deserted, sad and lonely, and hopeless. The sense that matters most for describing feelings is the second, sad and lonely, especially from feeling abandoned. The puppy sat forlorn by the door. The word also describes a place left empty. It comes from an Old English past participle meaning lost, so the idea of being lost or left is built into it. Related forms are forlornly and forlornness.

Thoughtful sadness

Melancholy is deep sadness of a thoughtful or reflective kind. As a noun it names the feeling, and as an adjective it describes a person, a mood or a piece of music. It can suggest wistfulness or quiet, subdued emotion, and the adjective use is often literary. A melancholy tune drifted from the window. The word has an unusual history. It comes from ancient Greek words meaning black bile, from the old belief that the body held four fluids, called humours, and black bile was one of them.

Because it is gentle and reflective, melancholy is a good fit for autumn afternoons, old photographs and slow songs. It is not the word for sudden bad news.

A quick guide to choosing

Using sad words in your writing

• Show, then name. She stared at the cold coffee and said nothing. Then add one adjective: She looked dejected.
• Pick one word. A sad, gloomy, miserable day repeats itself. Choose the strongest, or the most exact.
• Match the register. Forlorn and sorrowful suit stories and speeches. Down and blue suit conversation. Formal and informal vocabulary explains how to judge it.
• Watch the opposite. Many of these words have an opposite in the same family, as in the guide to synonyms for happy. Learning the pairs helps both sides.

Practice set

Choose the best word: glum, dejected, forlorn, melancholy, sorrowful.

1. After the interview went badly, he felt ______.
2. The empty playground looked ______ in the rain.
3. A ______ violin tune played as the sun went down.
4. The team sat ______ on the bus, not saying a word.
5. The family said a ______ goodbye at the station.
6. Which of these words can describe a dark room as well as a mood?

Answers: 1. dejected (sad after a setback). 2. forlorn (lonely, empty). 3. melancholy (reflective). 4. glum (silent and downcast). 5. sorrowful (a sad parting). 6. gloomy.

Making it stick

A word list of shades of one feeling is easier to remember if each word sits in a sentence you can picture. Add a few at a time, and review them as the words come due, as spaced repetition describes. A week later, you will reach for forlorn or dejected without checking.

How Wordabulary fits in

Wordabulary finds your level with a placement assessment, then gives you practice and quizzes matched to it. Word pages for words such as miserable show the definition, example sentences and close words, so that you can compare shades before you use them.